Drones, e-bikes spur broker warning
An insurance broking group is warning that thousands of drone and e-bike owners may not be covered by policies.
Simon Moss, a partner services manager at NZ brokers, said there could be between 50 and 100 types of contents policies with different features and prices.
‘‘The insurance company may cover your $5000 pushbike, but many won’t cover your e-bike of the same value because of terms in the policy.’’
Moss said he analysed a large number of policies and found home and contents policies were varied in their wording – which would leave many e-bike and drone owners uninsured for loss, damage or third-party liability.
A drone might be considered by insurers as a type of aircraft if it was capable of lifting more than its own weight.
‘‘Your drone may be covered for loss if you drop it while getting it out of the car, but if it falls from the sky you are on your own,’’ Moss said.
‘‘From the insurer’s perspective, drones and e-bikes are an unknown risk and until they have an accurate picture of the risk they will act conservatively.’’
According to Statistics New Zealand there are now an estimated 40,000 e-bike owners.
Moss said the rapid evolution of the technology was contributing to a lack of consistency across insurance policies, and uncertainty for consumers.
He said when insurers started to see a trend in the type of claims, it was likely that more exclusions and conditions would be applied to e-bikes and drones.
Moss said some home contents policies would cover an e-bike if its output was under 300 watts, which is the maximum power output before the bike is classified as a motorcycle by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
‘‘This is one source of potential confusion as some e-bike motor manufacturers print on the motor their maximum input power.’’
Conversely a consumer may see 300 watts written on the motor but the bike may generate more power when in use, he said.
If a drone caused an accident while being used near a road, the owner would be left to foot the bill in most circumstances, he said.
Moss said there were no e-bike specific policies on the market, but some insurers were starting to offer better cover for drones.